“They knew it was out there, but they just didn’t know where,” Loyd says. Sold to a private collector, the painting vanished from public view, and Greenwich Workshop made a concerted effort to find it. One of Doolittle’s earliest ‘regular’ works, painted in 1977, is The Arrival, depicting a group of Indian scouts spotting the season’s first herd of buffalo. “With both her ‘camo’ and her regular work, Doolittle has given collectors much variety.” The Arrival, for a long time, was hidden to those who knew it existed, but couldn’t find it. “I’ve had people come up to me and say, ‘Look - I see a fish in that rock!’ when there isn’t one, but I’m sure Doolittle wouldn’t mind. “Once Doolittle became known for doing camouflage, that’s what collectors began seeing,” Loyd says, “but as Doolittle herself says, not all of her work uses this technique. They become one with the work, and the viewer feels as if he shares the secret, and the pun, with the artist.īut sometimes, according to Loyd, viewers see things that even the artist doesn’t know are there. In Hide and Seek, a compilation of 24 smaller paintings of brown and white paint horses set against rocks and snow, the words “Hide and Seek,” once seen, are never unseen. ![]() That being said, a viewer can spend a lot of time in front of a Doolittle piece, searching for images that may, or may not, be there. “My meaning and message are never hidden.” Hide and Seek by Bev Doolittle contains a hidden message that, once clear, doesn’t disappear. For me, camouflage is a means to an end, not an end in itself. “Everything I do is intended to enhance the idea of each piece. “If I have to be categorized at all, I like to think of myself as a ‘concept painter.’ I am an artist who uses camouflage to get my story across, to slow down the viewing process so you can discover it for yourself. “Many people call me a ‘camouflage artist,’ but that just isn’t true,” Doolittle says on the Greenwich Workshop website. Loyd remembers Doolittle explaining how the public’s reception to the first camouflage piece was so overwhelmingly positive, that the artist was encouraged to, well, Do More. Although Doolittle is popularly known for her camouflage technique, in which elements like animals or human faces are hidden within rocks and trees or clouds and streams, not all of her work employs this stratagem. She took time to talk and sign and interact. She was not rushed or moving people through the line quickly. “What impressed me the most is how much time she spent interacting with each person. “From the front desk, where I was busy processing sales, I looked across the room where Bev was signing work and chatting with clients,” Lael Loyd, who presently manages the gallery, remembers. Through Greenwich Workshops, her principle publisher, Doolittle’s limited edition prints have consistently sold out, and during a 2005 show at Wenaha Gallery when the artist appeared personally in Dayton to sign her prints, the line of purchasers extended out the door and into the sidewalk. ![]() They are in a number of books that she has co-authored and illustrated. Her images are on calendars, journals, and note cards. In ironic variance with her name, Doolittle has created, during a career that spans more than 40 years and counting, a significant body of work, which she sells as both originals and prints. One of America’s most collected artists, Doolittle paints highly detailed Western Art, primarily in watercolor, that focuses on the environment, Native American tradition, and wildlife. Within that limited list, however, the name Bev Doolittle will probably appear. In a cinema-saturated society where most people effortlessly rattle off the monikers of 20 living celebrities, naming a fine art painter - especially one who is still breathing - is a challenge. The Forest Has Eyes is a prime example of Bev Doolittle’s camouflage art, with hidden things to be found everywhere.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |